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HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION
Kentucky Summary Below is brief summary of the homeschooling law in Kentucky.
For a detailed analysis of homeschooling in Kentucky, see: Kentucky—A Legal Analysis Compulsory School Age Kentucky Legal Home Schooling Options: 1 Option: 1 Legal Option: Qualify a home school as a private school Attendance: 185 days Subjects: Reading, writing, spelling, grammar, history, mathematics, and civics Qualifications: None Notice: Notify the local board of education of those students in attendance within
two weeks of start of school year Recordkeeping: Maintain an attendance register and scholarship reports Testing: None © 2006, HSLDA
A. Parents/Guardians of school age children, by law, must notify the public school district of the enrollment of their
child(ren) in A private or parochial school within the first two weeds of each public school year. Home school representatives
of Christian Home Educators of Kentucky and the Kentucky Home Education Association and the officers of the Kentucky Directors
of Pupil Personnel Association agree that in the absence of any mitigating factors the school(s) which have properly notified
public school districts should be presumed to be in compliance with the law and operating a bonafide school thus, necessitating
no further investigation.
Date Your School Director of Pupil Personnel Dear Director of Pupil Personnel:
This letter is to inform you that our (Sons or Daughters} (Names & Ages) will be enrolled in the (Your home school
name & mailing address, Phone number) for the (School year attending) pursuant to all the applicable Kentucky Revised
Statutes.
Thank You.
Sincerely, So what are the Kentucky state laws on
home schooling? Click here for a printer-friendly version of this document: a PDF . (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.) To answer this question, you need to read the Home School Information
and Best Practice Document. HOME SCHOOL INFORMATION PACKET AND BEST PRACTICE DOCUMENT Prepared by Christian Home Educators of Kentucky Kentucky Home Education Association and Kentucky Directors of Pupil Personnel August 21, 1997 Revised November 14, 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS B. Rights of Parents/Guardians to Home School Their Children D. Role of the Director of Pupil Personnel E. Commentary on the Law and Its Application from the Home School Perspective II. Best Practice Approach to Home School Verification On March
14, 1997 twelve home school representatives from
Christian Home Educators of Kentucky (CHEK) and the Kentucky Home Education Association (KHEA) and twelve officers and board
of directors of the Kentucky Directors of Pupil Personnel Association met to share their views on the status of home schools
in Kentucky. From that meeting a task force was formed to address the issues
that were raised at that meeting. The task force was comprised of: • Joe Adams - Christian Home Educators of Kentucky • Cheri Fouts - Kentucky Home Education Association • Louie Hammons - Director of Pupil Personnel (Garrard County) • Sherwood Kirk - Director of Pupil Personnel (Ohio County) • David Lanier - Kentucky Home Education Association • Marilann Melton - Director of Pupil Personnel (Warren County) • Roger VonStrophe - Director of Pupil Personnel (Newport) • Don Woolett - Christian Home Educators of Kentucky David Thurmond, Director of the Division
of Planning, who is the nonpublic school liaison for the Kentucky Department of Education, served as a consultant to the task
force. The task force met on a monthly basis
for the next three months. This document is a product of their efforts. On November
14, 2000 a task force was called to review and revise
this document. The only revisions updated the section on Home School Resources and added a new section on the Recognition
of Credits. The members of this task force are as
follows: • Joe Adams - Christian Home Educators of Kentucky • Cindy Green - Kentucky Home Education Association • Louie Hammons - Director of Pupil Personnel (Garrard County) • Mike Hughes – Kentucky Home Education Association • Mary Anna Rogers – Kentucky Home Education Association • Haskell Sheeks – President, Directors of Pupil Personnel
Association and Director of Pupil Personnel (Ballard County) • Roger VonStrophe - Director of Pupil Personnel (Newport) • Robert Simpson, who serves as the liaison between the Kentucky
Department of Education and non-public schools. B. Rights of
Parents/Guardians to Home School Their Children Kentucky compulsory
attendance laws require that every child between the ages of 6 and 16 be enrolled in school.
This requirement may be met by attending public school, private school (including home school), parochial school, or
church regular day school. The parent or person in charge of the student is clearly
charged with the responsibility to see that the child attends school. In the case
of homes schooling, the parent is required to notify the local superintendent of schools by letter that the child is being
home schooled. The letter must include the names, ages, and place of residence
of each pupil in attendance at the school. The parent must notify the local superintendent
of schools within the first two weeks of each school year of their intent to home school
their child(ren). C. Kentucky
Department of Education - Home School Requirements The following are the minimal requirements
for the operation of a home school in Kentucky: 1. Education is a fundamental right. Rose V. Council for Better Education, Inc. Ky., 790 S.W. 2d 186 (1989). Compulsory attendance laws (KRS 159.010) require that every child between the ages
of 6 and 16 be enrolled in school. KRS 159.030 exempts a child from attending
public school who is enrolled and regularly attending a private, parochial or church regular day school. Home schools are considered to be private schools in Kentucky, and the laws relating to private schools
apply equally to home schools. Therefore, when you decide to educate your children
at home, you must first establish a bonafide school for your children to attend. Furthermore, you are required to notify the
local superintendent of schools by letter that you have established a school, and to report the names, ages, and place of
residence of each pupil in attendance at the school, together with any facts that the superintendent may require to facilitate
carrying out the laws relating to compulsory attendance and employment of children. (KRS 159.160) It is recommended that you keep a copy of any information that you provide to the local school district. 2. The private, home, and parochial schools
shall teach those subjects that will educate children to be intelligent citizens. State
law requires that instruction be offered in English and in the branches of study that are taught in the public schools. This is interpreted to include at least reading, writing, spelling, grammar, history,
mathematics and civics. KRS 158.080, and Kentucky State Board for Elementary
and Secondary Education v. Rudasill, Ky., 589 S.W. 2d 877 (1979). 3. Private, home and parochial schools shall
provide instruction for a term at least as long as the term in effect for the public school in the district where the child
resides. (KRS 158.080) The minimum school term is defined in KRS 158.070 which
states: The minimum school term shall be 185 days, including no less than the
equivalent of 175 six (6) hour instructional days. This would be 1050 instructional
hours. 4. The private and parochial schools shall
record and maintain scholarship reports of each student’s progress at the same interval as in the local public school,
grading all subjects taught. (KRS 159.040) 5. Kentucky requires that an accurate record
of pupil attendance be kept. (KRS 159.040) Attendance may be recorded in a notebook,
or on a computer list or in a register provided by the Kentucky Department of Education to the local school district. 6. KRS 158.040 requires that all private
schools be open to inspection by directors of pupil personnel or officials of the Department of Education.
D. The Role
of the Director of Pupil Personnel The director
of pupil personnel has the responsibility to enforce the compulsory attendance and census laws in the attendance district
he/she serves. When a question
arises as to whether a child is actually being schooled at home it is within the authority of the director of pupil personnel
to ask for evidence that a bonafide school exists. Evidence that a school
actually exists might include: 1. Whether the parent/guardian has notified the local board
of education by letter of intent to teach the child(ren) at home giving the names, ages, and address of each child. 2. Whether instruction is taking place over a term at least
as long as the term in effect for the public school in the district where the child resides. (175 instructional days times
6 hours = 1050 instructional hours per school year) 3. Whether instruction covers at least reading, writing, spelling,
grammar, history, mathematics, and civics. 4. Whether the teacher records and maintains scholarship reports
of each student’s progress at the same interval as in the local public school, grading all subjects taught. 5. Whether an accurate record of pupil attendance is being
kept. When there
is reason for concern the director of pupil personnel should notify the private school of the parent’s need to provide
this information. If the records are incomplete, the director of pupil personnel
has the option of making a visit to inspect the private school to determine whether instruction is taking place. In the case of a home school, if the parents refuse access to the home, the director of pupil personnel
may arrange a meeting at the school district office or at a neutral site. Following
assessment, if the director of pupil personnel concludes that minimum standards of instruction are not being met, he/she may
take action under KRS 159. KRS 159.130
defines the powers and duties of directors of pupil personnel: The director of
pupil personnel and his assistants shall be vested with the power of peace officers, provided however they shall not have
the authority to serve warrants. They may investigate in their district any case
of nonattendance at school of any child of compulsory school age or suspected of being of that age. They may under the direction of the superintendent of schools and the Kentucky Board of Education, institute
proceedings against any person violating the laws of compulsory attendance and employment of children. E. Commentary
on the Law and Its Application from the Perspective of the Christian Home Educators of Kentucky and the Kentucky Home Education
Association This commentary
will refer to the paragraph numbers of the list of Home School Requirements (HSR), (section C, page 14.) It is suggested that
you refer to it periodically while reading the commentary. HSR notes
that the six items listed are the minimal requirements for the lawful operation of a home school in Kentucky. Home schooling is an area whose upper limits are bounded only by an individual’s
initiative and creativity, so any home schooling family may exceed these minimal requirements many times over. Nevertheless, it is important to recognize the bottom line required to operate a home school legally in
Kentucky. 1. Kentucky compulsory attendance statutes require that children from the age
of 6 to 16 must be enrolled in either a public or private school. Home schoolers
are in no way exempt from that law. Some points to remember: a) Current Kentucky law requires that any child
who is six(6) years of age, or who may become six (6) years of age by October 1st, must be enrolled in a primary school program.
A primary school program means that part of the elementary school program in which children are enrolled from the time they
begin school until they are ready to enter the fourth grade. Formally this was
called kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade. Most students are in
the primary school program for four (4) years. A student must successfully complete
the primary school program before entering the fourth grade. Any child who is five (5) years of age,
or who may become five (5) years of age by October 1st, may enter a primary school program.
If you elect to suspend formal schooling with your child until the age of six, he or she will be a year behind his
or her peers in terms of the conventional grading system. This is not a problem
necessarily, simply something which you should consider while making your decision.
If you wish to avoid this issue, then begin your child in the primary
school program when he or she is five years old. b) Kentucky law states that if a child is not
enrolled in public school either the private school or parent of the child must inform the local school board of that child’s
whereabouts during the school year. Your notification letter to the local school
board allows the superintendent to be in compliance with the portion of the compulsory attendance law that requires him to
account for every child in his district. c) When you write your local school board, you
should state that your children will be attending a particular school, giving the name and address of the school. You must
also include the name, age and home address of each child in your school. You
need not include anything else in the letter whatsoever. We do not recommend that you include test
scores, letters of recommendations, or any other material since it implies that you are requesting permission from the school
board to teach your children at home. You are not requesting permission, simply
informing them of the situation. d) The letter to the school board should be sent
within ten days of the beginning of school and will need to be sent each year you home school.
We agree that it is wise for you to keep a copy of the letter and any other correspondence affecting your children
or the operation of your ome school. e) As a result of religious or philosophical convictions,
some parents elect not to notify the local school district of their home schooling activities.
It is not our purpose to comment one way or the other on these convictions; however, it is important to note that there
are civil penalties which could include monetary fines and incarceration for persons convicted of non-compliance with compulsory
education laws; anyone who elects to disregard the reporting requirements should be aware of the risks involved. 2. Kentucky law requires that you educate your children at least
as long as the public schools in your district. At the present time that number
is 175 instructional days, 6 hours per day (totaling 1,050 hours per calendar year) in most districts. You need not educate your children on the same days that the public schools in your area are in operation,
and you may educate your children more days than the public schools require. 3. This section of the HSR is relatively self-explanatory. Kentucky law does not limit in any way the subjects or the point of view, which will be included in your
home school. It does require, however, that you teach the basics in the English
language. 4. HSR requires that private schools, including home schools, keep
scholarship records of the students in that school. Furthermore, it requires
that the scholarship reports be summarized or tabulated at the same interval as the grading period of the local public school
district, normally every nine weeks. This particular provision of the law has
caused a great deal of confusion among both public school officials and home school parents in the past. A few points of clarification: a) This provision does not require
that the home school parents submit these reports to their local school district, state department of education, or anyone
else. It simply requires that they maintain the records in some sort of ongoing
fashion. b) HSR makes no statement concerning
the form which these scholarship reports must take. The form may be a traditional report card, a portfolio of exemplary work,
a narrative assessment or any one of many other forms of assessment. The point
seems to be that there needs to be some reasonable record of academic accomplishment maintained by the parents in the home
school. c) We would recommend
that whatever your preferred form of student assessment, the records be kept in a formal, organized manner for two reasons: first, this will be your child’s permanent record of educational accomplishment.
It is only right that the records be in a form that is concise and useful. Second,
in the event your records should ever come under scrutiny by someone else, the quality of your school will be judged to some
degree by the quality of your records. While it may be the case that records
kept on the back of envelopes, calendar pages, or paper plates do meet the letter of the law, such a casual approach to record
keeping would raise doubts in the minds of skeptics. 5. Keep an attendance book. It can be a book you obtain from writing the state, a grade book you purchase at a local office supply
store, a computer log, or any other reasonable method for maintaining attendance. Be
sure that you can account for at least the minimum required hours (1,050 hours) per year in your records. Many families combine the requirements of this provision and provision #4 above in one grade book which keeps both
attendance and scholarship records. 6. HSR #6 is one of the most controversial portions of the home school law in Kentucky. It provides that private schools shall be open to inspection by directors of pupil personnel or officials
of the Department of Education. It is believed that this was originally written
without awareness of the existence of home schools, places that were both homes and schools.
As a result, the provisions of this statute appears to conflict with the rights given by the U.S. Constitution to every
American citizen against unreasonable search and seizure. It is our understanding that “home inspections” by school personnel will stop at the threshold unless
consent is given by the homeowner. In the absence of imminent threat (the house
is on fire, for instance) entry into a private home can only occur with the presentation of a lawfully executed warrant. All homeschoolers should be aware of this fact. On the other hand, if genuine concerns exist in the mind of school personnel as to the legitimacy of a particular
home school, it may be in that family’s interest to meet with the school official, preferably at a neutral site, in
order to address any questions. In conclusion,
we recommend consideration of the following: a) In the event you are informed
of an impending visit, talk with the official and try to agree upon a suitable time and place outside your home to review
your records. b) In the event a home visit
is unannounced or in cases where prior mutually agreeable arrangements cannot be made, we recommend that you seriously consider
the ramifications of allowing government officials to enter your home without warrant.
It is certainly your prerogative to invite anyone to see your home school: friends, family or local school officials. It is another thing for you to accede to their demand to review your material in your
home. c) Furthermore, we suggest that
you conduct your home school in such an exemplary manner that no one in your community will be concerned about the quality
of the job you are doing. Considerations prior to embarking on
a home school journey In order to
have the very best possible experience as a home schooling parent, we suggest that you take into consideration the following
practical issues; responsible home education can be a daunting task and should not be entered into without due consideration. Although it affords ample opportunity for educational excellence and flexibility,
it requires a high degree of commitment and energy to be successful. Listed below
are some factors that should be thoroughly considered prior to embarking on a home school journey. Home schooling
is very time-consuming. To do an adequate job the home school parent(s) must
devote considerable time and energy to class preparation, instructional time, grading papers, etc. Many families have had to change their lifestyle significantly -- switching from a two-income to a one-income
family, for instance -- in order to accommodate the demands of homeschooling. It
is a decision that should not be made on impulse or without sufficient forethought. Home schooling
requires initiative. While excellent material is available to assist the
home schooling parent, putting it together in a manageable form for a given family requires a great deal of work and creativity. Since each family is different it is clear that the final form home education takes
will vary from family to family. To be a good home schooler requires a certain
independent spirit, willingness to try new things and a reasonable level of self-confidence. Home schools
are not accredited by the State. Unless a home schooling family functions
as a satellite classroom for an accredited school, the diploma awarded by a home school may not be recognized by other schools
or agencies. Some home schooled children take the General Equivalency Diploma
(GED) exam for the purpose of obtaining a standard credential. Other college-bound
home school graduates take the SAT or ACT tests and usually have little problem with college admission. For more information
regarding home schooling in your area, contact Kentucky Home Education Association at P.O. Box 51951, Bowling Green, KY 42102-5891
or Christian Home Educators of Kentucky, 691 Howardstown Road, Hodgenville, KY 42748. II. Best Practice
Approach to Home School Verification In the interest
of the education of all children in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and based upon the laws as they relate to compulsory attendance
of school age children and their right to an education, whether in a public or private/home school, the following best practice
approach is suggested as a way both public and private/home school personnel may approach the question of insuring that all
children are enrolled in a bonafide school. A. Parents/Guardians of school age children, by law, must notify the
public school district of the enrollment of their child(ren) in a private or parochial school within the first two weeks of
each public school year. Home school representatives of Christian Home Educators
of Kentucky and the Kentucky Home Education Association and the officers of the Kentucky Directors of Pupil Personnel Association
agree that in the absence of any mitigating factors the school(s) which have properly notified public school districts should
be presumed to be in compliance with the law and operating a bonafide school; thus, necessitating no further investigation. B. It is the responsibility of the local director of pupil personnel
or his/her designee to investigate any evidence which would suggest that a child(ren) is not enrolled in a bonafide school. The investigation is for the sole purpose of determining that a bonafide school does
exist and in no way is intended to investigate and approve the education provided by the school. Any investigation could include, but is not limited to, phone calls, home visits (the privacy of the home
must be recognized and no visit inside the home may be conducted without the consent of an adult resident or a duly issued
warrant), review of academic and attendance documents, etc. C. Circumstances/evidence which would cause a public school district
to have concern about whether or not a bonafide school did exist, thus causing an investigation to occur, would include, but
is not limited to: 1. Notification, after the public school
year has begun and at any time other than a semester break, by parent/guardian of intent to withdraw their child(ren)from
the public school for the purpose of home schooling; (This would not apply to students moving in from out-of-district.) 2. Notification by the parent/guardian of
intent to home school their child(ren) when disciplinary action (i.e. truancy, expulsion, notification relative to driver’s
license, etc.) was being contemplated or had begun; 3. Request from an agency or individual
to determine if the child(ren) are in school. Requests from an agency concerned
with child welfare (i.e. juvenile court, Department of Social Service, etc.) should be investigated as a matter of course. Requests made by a private citizen should proceed only as it relates to probable cause
and/or legal requirements;
4. Notification (as required by law) by the parent/guardian
of their intent to home school their child(ren) was not received by the public school district within two weeks of the start
of the public school year; 5. Evidence of a compelling nature which would
suggest the inability of the parent or proposed teacher to operate/maintain a bonafide school. Should there
be any disagreement on the part of the directors of pupil personnel and parents/guardians, it is anticipated that common sense
rules will be used to ascertain the information requested by either party. Everyone
should have a clear understanding of what are the rights and obligations of the directors of pupil personnel and parents/guardians
to insure that all school age children are enrolled in a bonafide school.
See pages 8-10 and page 41 for homeschooling resources.
See the section, Sample Forms and Documents, beginning on page 59, as well as page 57.
1. Loss of driver’s license by student for dropping
out of school or for academic deficiency. Note: These requirements concerning driver’s licenses were deemed unconstitutional by the KY Supreme Court
on December 18, 2003 and may no longer be applicable. Any applicant for a permit who is under the age of eighteen (18) who has not graduated from high school shall provide
proof issue by his school within the preceding sixty (60) days that the applicant is currently enrolled or has been enrolled
in the prior semester of school and is not or has not been found academically deficient.
If a student is being schooled at home, a statement from his parent or guardian that he is being schooled at home and
is not academically deficient shall be provided. A student shall be deemed to have dropped out of school when he has nine (9) or more unexcused absences in the preceding
semester. Any absences due to suspension shall be unexcused absences. A student shall be deemed to be academically deficient when he has not received passing grades in a least
four (4) courses, or the equivalent of four (4) courses, in the preceding semester. 2. Recognition of home school credits KRS 158.140 mandates the assignment of a pupil in the class or grade to which the pupil is best suited. This regulation prescribes procedures for recognition of credits or graduation from
a public secondary school upon transfer from a nonaccredited secondary school and from a public secondary school upon transfer
from a nonaccredited secondary school and for the awarding of credit upon transfer to a public secondary school without a
proper transcript being reasonably available. Section 1. For the purpose of this regulation, a “nonaccredited secondary school: is a school enrolling students
for secondary school instruction when that school is not recognized by (1) of the fifty (50) state departments of education
or one (1) of the seven (7) independent regional accrediting associations. A
“nonaccredited secondary school” in Kentucky shall be any private school not certified pursuant to KRS 156.160(3). Section 2. (1) The local school district shall be responsible for the appropriate assignment of a student transferring
from a nonaccredited secondary school to the class or grade best suited for the student. Previous credits earned by a student
in a nonaccredited secondary school shall be awarded by the local school district by one (1) of the two (2) following methods: Pass an examination of similar nature and content to the examination used for other students receiving credits for
a particular course within the school district and graded an a comparable basis; Or Successful performance of the student in a higher level course when the courses are sequential in nature such as English,
Mathematics, History and Science. Successful performance shall consist of achieving
at least a C grade in the course by the 12th week of school. The courses successfully completed by examination or performance shall be counted toward minimum high school graduation
requirements in the local school district. Section 3. A student desiring recognition of previous credits toward graduation upon entering public school secondary
school without a properly certified transcript and for whom a properly certified transcript cannot reasonably be obtained,
shall be placed and awarded credit as outlined in Section 2 of this statute. 3. Home school participation in public school activities Home school
participation in public school activities is governed by local board policy. At
the present time there is no prohibition against a home school student taking classes at the local public school. Local situations vary. Contact your local school for details. Current regulations
prohibit home school children from participating on athletic or academic teams sponsored by public schools. Return to the Home Schooling Information Page Enter content here |
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